An Ordinance for the government of the territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio

Section 1. Be it ordained by the United States in Congress
assembled, That the said Territory, for the purpose of temporary
government, be one district, subject, however, to be
divided into two districts, as future circumstances may, in
the opinion of Congress, make it expedient.

Sec. 2. Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the
estates both of resident and non-resident proprietors in
the said territory, dying intestate, shall descend to, and be
distributed among, their children and the descendants of
a deceased child in equal parts, the descendants of a deceased
child or grandchild to take the share of their deceased
parent in equal parts among them; and where
there shall be no children or descendants, then in equal
parts to the next of kin, in equal degree; and among collaterals,
the children of a deceased brother or sister of the
intestate shall have, in equal parts among them, their deceased
parent's share; and there shall, in no case, be a distinction
between kindred of the whole and half blood; saving
in all cases to the widow of the intestate, her third part
of the real estate for life, and one-third part of the personal
estate; and this law relative to descents and dower,
shall remain in full force until altered by the legislature of
the district. And until the governor and judges shall adopt
laws as hereinafter mentioned, estates in the said territory
may be devised or bequeathed by wills in writing, signed
and sealed by him or her in whom the estate may be,
(being of full age,) and attested by three witnesses; and
real estates may be conveyed by lease and release, or bargain
and sale, signed, sealed, and delivered by the person,
being of full age, in whom the estate may be, and attested
by two witnesses, provided such wills be duly proved, and
such conveyances be acknowledged, or the execution
thereof duly proved, and be recorded within one year after
proper magistrates, courts, and registers, shall be appointed
for that purpose; and personal property may be
transferred by delivery, saving, however, to the French
and Canadian inhabitants, and other settlers of the Kaskaskies,
Saint Vincents, and the neighboring villages, who
have heretofore professed themselves citizens of Virginia,
their laws and customs now in force among them, relative
to the descent and conveyance of property.

Sec. 3. Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That there
shall be appointed, from time to time, by Congress, a governor,
whose commission shall continue in force for the
term of three years, unless sooner revoked by Congress;
he shall reside in the district, and have a freehold estate
therein, in one thousand acres of land, while in the exercise
of his office.

Sec. 4. There shall be appointed from time to time, by
Congress, a secretary, whose commission shall continue in
force for four years, unless sooner revoked; he shall reside
in the district, and have a freehold estate therein, in five
hundred acres of land, while in the exercise of his office.
It shall be his duty to keep and preserve the acts and laws
passed by the legislature, and the public records of the
district, and the proceedings of the governor in his executive
department, and transmit authentic copies of such
acts and proceedings every six months to the Secretary of
Congress. There shall also be appointed a court, to consist
of three judges, any two of whom to form a court, who
shall have a common-law jurisdiction and reside in the district,
and have each therein a freehold estate, in five
hundred acres of land, while in the exercise of their offices;
and their commissions shall continue in force during
good behavior.

Sec. 5. The governor and judges, or a majority of them,
shall adopt and publish in the district such laws of the
original States, criminal and civil, as may be necessary, and
best suited to the circumstances of the district, and report
them to Congress from time to time, which laws shall be
in force in the district until the organization of the general
assembly therein, unless disapproved of by Congress; but
afterwards the legislature shall have authority to alter
them as they shall think fit.

Sec. 6. The governor, for the time being, shall be commander-in-chief
of the militia, appoint and commission all
officers in the same below the rank of general officers; all
general officers shall be appointed and commissioned by
Congress.

Sec. 7. Previous to the organization of the general assembly
the governor shall appoint such magistrates, and
other civil officers, in each county or township, as he shall
find necessary for the preservation of the peace and good
order in the same. After the general assembly shall be organized
the powers and duties of magistrates and other
civil officers shall be regulated and defined by the said assembly;
but all magistrates and other civil officers, not
herein otherwise directed, shall, during the continuance of
this temporary government, be appointed by the governor.

Sec. 8. For the prevention of crimes, and injuries, the
laws to be adopted or made shall have force in all parts of
the district, and for the execution of process, criminal and
civil, the governor shall make proper divisions thereof;
and he shall proceed, from time to time, as circumstances
may require, to lay out the parts of the district in which
the Indian titles shall have been extinguished, into counties
and townships, subject, however, to such alterations as
may thereafter be made by the legislature.

Sec. 9. So soon as there shall be five thousand free male
inhabitants, of full age, in the district, upon giving proof
thereof to the governor, they shall receive authority, with
time and place, to elect representatives from their counties
or townships, to represent them in the general assembly:
Provided, That for every five hundred free male inhabitants
there shall be one representative, and so on, progressively,
with the number of free male inhabitants, shall the
right of representation increase, until the number of representatives
shall amount to twenty-five; after which the
number and proportion of representatives shall be regulated
by the legislature: Provided, That no person be eligible
or qualified to act as a representative, unless he shall
have been a citizen of one of the United States three years,
and be a resident in the district, or unless he shall have
resided in the district three years; and, in either case, shall
likewise hold in his own right, in fee-simple, two hundred
acres of land within the same: Provided also, That a free-hold
in fifty acres of land in the district, having been a
citizen of one of the States, and being resident in the district,
or the like freehold and two years' residence in the
district, shall be necessary to qualify a man as an elector of
a representative.

Sec. 10. The representatives thus elected shall serve for
the term of two years; and in case of the death of a representative,
or removal from office, the governor shall issue
a writ to the county or township, for which he was a
member, to elect another in his stead, to serve for the residue
of the term.

Sec. 11. The general assembly, or legislature, shall consist
of the governor, legislative council, and a house of representatives.
The legislative council shall consist of five
members, to continue in office five years, unless sooner
removed by Congress; any three of whom to be a quorum;
and the members of the council shall be nominated and
appointed in the following manner, to wit: As soon as representatives
shall be elected the governor shall appoint a
time and place for them to meet together, and when met
they shall nominate ten persons, resident in the district,
and each possessed of a freehold in five hundred acres of
land, and return their names to Congress, five of whom
Congress shall appoint and commission to serve as aforesaid;
and whenever a vacancy shall happen in the Council,
by death or removal from office, the house of representatives
shall nominate two persons, qualified as aforesaid, for
each vacancy, and return their names to Congress, one of
whom Congress shall appoint and commission for the residue
of the term; and every five years, four months at least
before the expiration of the time of service of the members
of the council, the said house shall nominate ten persons,
qualified as aforesaid, and return their names to
Congress, five of whom Congress shall appoint and commission
to serve as members of the council five years, unless
sooner removed. And the governor, legislative council,
and house of representatives shall have authority to make
laws in all cases for the good government of the district,
not repugnant to the principles and articles in this ordinance
established and declared. And all bills, having
passed by a majority in the house, and by a majority in the
council, shall be referred to the governor for his assent;
but no bill, or legislative act whatever, shall be of any force
without his assent. The governor shall have power to convene,
prorogue, and dissolve the general assembly when,
in his opinion, it shall be expedient.

Sec. 12. The governor, judges, legislative council, secretary,
and such other officers as Congress shall appoint
in the district, shall take an oath or affirmation of fidelity,
and of office; the governor before the President of Congress,
and all other officers before the governor. As soon
as a legislature shall be formed in the district, the council
and house assembled, in one room, shall have authority,
by joint ballot, to elect a delegate to Congress, who shall
have a seat in Congress, with a right of debating, but not
of voting, during this temporary government.

Sec. 13. And for extending the fundamental principles
of civil and religious liberty, which form the basis whereon
these republics, their laws and constitutions, are erected;
to fix and establish those principles as the basis of all laws,
constitutions, and governments, which forever hereafter
shall be formed in the said territory; to provide, also, for
the establishment of States, and permanent government
therein, and for their admission to a share in the Federal
councils on an equal footing with the original States, at
as early periods as may be consistent with the general
interest:

Sec. 14. It is hereby ordained and declared, by the authority
aforesaid, that the following articles shall be considered
as articles of compact, between the original States
and the people and States in the said territory, and forever
remain unalterable, unless by common consent, to wit:

Article I

No person, demeaning himself in a peaceable and orderly
manner, shall ever be molested on account of his
mode of worship, or religious sentiments, in the said territory.

Article II

The inhabitants of the said territory shall always be entitled
to the benefits of the writs of habeas corpus, and of
the trial by jury; of a proportionate representation of the
people in the legislature, and of judicial proceedings according
to the course of the common law. All persons shall
be bailable, unless for capital offences, where the proof
shall be evident, or the presumption great. All fines shall
be moderate; and no cruel or unusual punishment shall be
inflicted. No man shall be deprived of his liberty or property,
but by the judgment of his peers, or the law of the
land, and should the public exigencies make it necessary,
for the common preservation, to take any person's property,
or to demand his particular services, full compensation
shall be made for the same. And, in the just preservation
of rights and property, it is understood and
declared, that no law ought ever to be made or have force
in the said territory, that shall, in any manner whatever,
interfere with or affect private contracts, or engagements,
bona fide, and without fraud previously formed.

Article III

Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to
good government and the happiness of mankind, schools
and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.
The utmost good faith shall always be observed towards
the Indians; their lands and property shall never be taken
from them without their consent; and in their property,
rights, and liberty they never shall be invaded or disturbed
unless in just and lawful wars authorized by Congress; but
laws founded in justice and humanity shall, from time to
time, be made, for preventing wrongs being done to them,
and for preserving peace and friendship with them.

Article IV

The said territory, and the States which may be formed
therein, shall forever remain a part of this confederacy of
the United States of America, subject to the articles of
Confederation, and to such alterations therein as shall be
constitutionally made; and to all the acts and ordinances
of the United States in Congress assembled, conformable
thereto. The inhabitants and settlers in the said territory
shall be subject to pay a part of the Federal debts, contracted,
or to be contracted, and a proportional part of the
expenses of government to be apportioned on them by
Congress, according to the same common rule and measure
by which apportionments thereof shall be made on
the other States; and the taxes for paying their proportion
shall be laid and levied by the authority and direction of
the legislatures of the district, or districts, or new States, as
in the original States, within the time agreed upon by the
United States in Congress assembled. The legislatures of
those districts, or new States, shall never interfere with the
primary disposal of the soil by the United States in Congress
assembled, nor with any regulations Congress may
find necessary for securing the title in such soil to the bonafide
purchasers. No tax shall be imposed on lands the
property of the United States; and in no case shall nonresident
proprietors be taxed higher than residents. The
navigable waters leading into the Mississippi and Saint
Lawrence, and the carrying places between the same, shall
be common highways, and forever free, as well to the inhabitants
of the said territory as to the citizens of the
United States, and those of any other States that may be
admitted into the confederacy, without any tax, impost, or
duty therefor.

Article V

There shall be formed in the said territory not less than
three nor more than five States; and the boundaries of the
States, as soon as Virginia shall alter her act of cession and
consent to the same, shall become fixed and established as
follows, to wit: The western State, in the said territory,
shall be bounded by the Mississippi, the Ohio, and the Wabash
Rivers; a direct line drawn from the Wabash and Post
Vincents, due north, to the territorial line between the
United States and Canada; and by the said territorial line
to the Lake of the Woods and Mississippi. The middle
State shall be bounded by the said direct line, the Wabash
from Post Vincents to the Ohio, by the Ohio, by a direct
line drawn due north from the mouth of the Great Miami
to the said territorial line, and by the said territorial line.
The eastern State shall be bounded by the last-mentioned
direct line, the Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the said territorial
line: Provided, however, And it is further understood and
declared, that the boundaries of these three States shall be
subject so far to be altered, that, if Congress shall hereafter
find it expedient, they shall have authority to form one
or two States in that part of the said territory which lies
north of an east and west line drawn through the southerly
bend or extreme of Lake Michigan. And whenever
any of the said States shall have sixty thousand free inhabitants
therein, such State shall be admitted by its delegates,
into the Congress of the United States, on an equal footing
with the original States, in all respects whatever; and shall
be at liberty to form a permanent constitution and State
government: Provided, The constitution and government,
so to be formed, shall be republican, and in conformity to
the principles contained in these articles, and, so far as it
can be consistent with the general interest of the confederacy,
such admission shall be allowed at an earlier period,
and when there may be a less number of free inhabitants
in the State than sixty thousand.

Article VI

There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude
in the said territory, otherwise than in the punishment of
crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted:
Provided always, That any person escaping into the same,
from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any one
of the original States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed,
and conveyed to the person claiming his or her
labor or service as aforesaid.

Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the resolutions
of the 23d of April, 1784, relative to the subject of
this ordinance, be, and the same are hereby, repealed, and
declared null and void.

Done by the United States, in Congress assembled, the
13th day of July, in the year of our Lord 1787, and of
their sovereignty and independence the twelfth.